Tashi Wangchuk was arrested in January 2016 after giving an interview to The New York Times about his inability to secure the right for children in Tibet to learn the Tibetan language, as guaranteed in China’s constitution. He was a shopkeeper from the Yulshul township of Jyekundo, southeast Tibet. In The New York Times short documentary, Tashi Wangchuk states - “The local government is controlling the actual Tibetan culture, such as the spoken and written language. It looks like development on the surface, but in actual fact, the goal is to eliminate our culture”. He was detained for two years on charges of “inciting separatism” and in May 2018 was sentenced to five years in Prison. Tibetan-language schools have been forced to shut down and kindergarten-aged children only receive instruction in Mandarin. However, as a result of appeals from multiple human rights groups, including experts from the United Nations, Tashi Wanghcuk was finally released on 28th January 2021